Puffin Little Scientist: Robotics by Puffin Books

Puffin Books (Penguin Random House Australia), 2020. ISBN: 9781760897680.
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended for primary students. "HELLO, LITTLE SCIENTISTS WELCOME TO MY LAB . . . I'm so excited that you're here!"
This is one of three new releases in the Puffin Little reference series and is a great introduction to all that an inquiring young mind needs to know about robots. The chapters explain what robotics is, how robots work and how they are used in everyday and specialist situations, as well as how they may be used in the future.
The format is easy to read with short passages of text surrounded by ample white space and enhanced with simple illustrations. Although the information presented is comprehensive, the tone of the text is conversational and light (with lots of exclamation marks!) and is very appealing.
Younger readers will likely need assistance with some of the more complex words such as actuator, biomimicry, echolocation and semi-autonomous. More mature or confident readers, and especially those who love non-fiction, will enjoy reading this on their own.
The book includes short instructions for an echolocation game along with easy do-it-yourself experiments on static electricity and magnets. An activity at the end brings together all the new knowledge of the reader and invites them to really think about designing, drawing and labelling their own robot.
The book closes with a 'fast facts' page, glossary and a quiz. It is a smart little book that explains and explores robotics in a very enjoyable way.
The other two new (September 2020) releases in this series are Little Historian: The ANZACs and Little Explorer: The Ocean. There are now six books in this series with more planned. Themes: robots, STEM, reference.
Kylie Grant